


Signal Boost

by Anonymous



Series: Voltron League [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Justice League - All Media Types, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU where Lance is part of the Batfamily, Crossover, M/M, batfamily, cause idk, it sounded cool in my head and then this happened, voltron league au, your welcome?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 12:43:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10967478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: If there was one suggestion Lance could make about the batphones, it was that they needed a signal boost.  A signal boost that could carry across the universe itself so that the Blue Paladin could call home.





	Signal Boost

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact: I'm not as good with DC characters as I would like to be and therefore please don't be too mad at me if characters aren't as in-character as you'd like. Constructive critism would be great 'cause i wanna add more to this AU so if someone wants to offer help with writing the characters it'd be much appreciated.
> 
> Other Fun Fact: It's never explictally stated but Lance has incredibly enchanced vision and hearing in this AU for reasons that are hinted at in this and will be explored in a later story
> 
> This is anon because I am hella nervous about posting this tbh, like I said I'm not as knowledgable on the DCU as I'd like to be but no one filled my kink mee so I have to suck it up and write it myself. Also because I have a lot of stories i haven't updated and I feel hella guilty posting this

If there was one suggestion Lance could make about the batphones, it was that they needed a signal boost.  A signal boost that could carry across the universe itself so that the Blue Paladin could call home. 

 

Pidge could probably do it, Lance thought to himself as he stared at the screen, or Hunk.  But asking would involve revealing who his was to either of the two, which was out of the question.  Pidge and Hunk were both intelligent young people who could easily figure out the identities of the rest of the batfamily by association.  Lance couldn’t have that.

 

He could ask to borrow the ring (and how the ring works) off of Pidge, but that opened a whole new, but similar, can of worms that Lance was not about to deal with.

 

So instead the Blue Paladin was stuck with an out of range batphone and a bucket load of regrets to sort through.  Lance sighed and shut the cover of his gold-plated make-up compact, shutting off the currently useless comms link. 

 

Jason had teased him about the compact being girly, he recalled.  Lance had responded by telling Barbara and the two of them had kicked his ass before showing Jason just how effective make-up was at making one of any gender look perfect. 

 

Tim had downloaded games onto the device, behind Bruce’s back of course.  But Lance wasn’t in the right mood to play on the small but advanced touchscreen.

 

Dick had been the one to actually teach him how to use the damn thing, since Lance hadn’t so much as had a regular phone before living in the Wayne household and Dick was nothing if not understanding and helpful.  Also approachable.

 

When was the last time he spoke to them all, Lance wondered as he flipped the compact back open (but didn’t turn it on).  His fight with Bruce had been months before Blue took him into space and Lance hadn’t really spoken to his pseudo-brothers in those months any more than he had his pseudo-father.  It was stupid looking back, how worked up he’d gotten up over something so small.  But then hindsight was 20-20.

 

Lance had thought he’d already learnt that lesson, but apparently the universe thought he needed another harsh recap.

 

The Blue Paladin sighed and shut the compact once more.  This was why he hated the quiet.  It wasn’t that he enjoyed fighting or war, but when there was nothing to do and no one to talk to Lance found himself drowning in his memories.  In his _would have, should have,_ _could have_ ’s.  He made lists when it was quiet, and when it came to Lance lists were never a good thing.

 

Flipping the compact back open, he thought of all the things he’d do if he ever got back to Earth.  He’d apologize to Bruce for one, that was a no brainer.  Closed.  He’d probably have to apologize to Alfred too, and he’d definitely have to show up for dinner more often.  Open.  He’d actually get to know Damian.  Closed.  He’d finely make his move on the garrison, no more waiting around for the right moment to strike.  Open.  He’d go see his parents.  Closed. 

 

On and on the list would have gone, if not for the sudden alarm that made Lance jump. 

 

“Paladins,” Allura began, voice loud over the speakers, “we are currently being hailed by an unidentified ship.  It does not appear Galran, however please make your way to the control room post haste!”  Lance sighed and slipped the compact into his jeans pocket.  Well, it was better than the quiet.

 

* * *

 

Of all the people to be hailing the ship, Lance hadn't even jokingly entertained the idea of seeing the Justice League on the castles main screen.

 

“Oh my god.”  Hunk practically wheezed next to him, looking at the seven very well-known figures with wide eyes. 

 

“You said it.”  Lance whistled.

 

“Do you know these people?”  Allura asked, looking back at the team with a frown.

 

“Who doesn’t?”  Pidge commented, though the comment held none of the awe that Lance’s and Hunk’s had.  Allura continued to stare expectedly, wanting more information.

 

“They’re a superhero group from Earth, called the Justice League.”  Shiro explained.  “They’re heroes.”  The Voltron leader had that tone of awe in his voice too.

 

“So why are they out here?”  Keith mumbled in a similar tone to Pidge as Coran and Allura shared a similar, confused look at the term ‘superhero’.

 

“We were investigating a couple alien warships that turned up at our door a few weeks back.”  A half-machine man seemingly behind the main controls in the Justice League’s ship explained.  “We managed to follow the unique signature of one of those ships to your position.”

 

“Dude, he’s talking about the Blue Lion.”  Hunk said, grabbing Lance’s arms tightly in his excitement.  “That’s you Lance, that’s you!”

 

“I know man.”  Lance said, grinning to Hunk with a similar expression of excitement.

 

“Your fanboy is showing.”  Pidge teased, rolling her eyes at the two.

 

“And what is your business with the Blue Lion?”  Allura asked, narrowing her eyes at the group in sudden suspicion.  Shiro and Hunk gave her equally scandalized looks at the tone.

 

“We were hoping you could shed some light as to why it was so near our planet.”  A deep voice replied from a man with equally narrowed eyes.  “And as to why you have five humans on board your ship, one of whom was presumed dead.”

 

“Oh my god his voice is even deeper in person.”  Hunk wheezed at Lance’s side. 

 

“I told you.”  Lance responded, trying his hardest not to laugh at his friends comment and instead continue to sound like an awe-struck fan.

 

“The Paladin’s were brought here by the Blue Lion, which was by no means a non-consensual act.”  Allura said, tone just as guarded as before.

 

“It was a little non-consensual.”  Pidge mumbled, sounding bitter though Lance wasn’t sure if that was aimed at him, Blue, or Allura.  Or none of the above.  “Blue didn’t exactly tell us we were getting into a war.” 

 

“Excuse me?  A war?”  A broad man in green frowned.  “The Green Lanterns weren’t aware of any war going on.”

 

“Then they must be blind.”  Allura snapped.

 

“Allura.”  Shiro cut in.  “I think this is probably a conversation we should all sit down to have.”  He suggested.  “In person rather than over a screen.”

 

“An excellent idea.”  The only woman on the ship agreed.  “If you’d allow us to board.” 

 

“Of course!”  Hunk practically shouted, earning a glare from Allura as he cut in.  “What?  We can’t just, like, not let the Justice League board.  They’re the _Justice League_ , right Lance?”

 

“Well, duh.”  Lance agreed, grinning at Allura.

 

“They’re certainly people I consider trustworthy Allura.”  Shiro added in, smiling a softer smile at the woman.  Allura held her ground a moment before turning back to the screen.

 

“Very well.”  She agreed.  “Coran, please open the left guest hanger.  We shall meet you there.”

 

“Thank you.”  Another one of the men in the room smiled before the feed cut out.

 

“This is the best day of my life.”  Hunk announced in a high pitch squeal.

 

* * *

 

Lance tried not to fidget as he and the others waited for the Justice League to exit their ship.  Next to him, Hunk practically bounced with excitement muttering about how that was _the Javelin_ and Lance made sure to responded in an equal amount of excitement even if he didn’t really feel it.  Keith and Paige both looked about as happy as Allura did, which was not at all and Lance thought that was pretty obvious of the two of them.  Coran looked curious, standing on Allura’s right, while Shiro looked professional as ever on her left. 

 

The seven Justice League members made their way into the hanger bay, led by the big three with the other four members flanking behind them.  Looking at it, the two groups had an almost identical line up save for how Shiro and Coran stood a step or two behind Allura.

 

“Welcome Justice League.”  The princess greeted tensely.  “I am Princess Allura of Altea, allow me to also introduce my Royal Advisor Coran and the Paladins, Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk.”

 

“Thank you for your hospitality Princess Allura.”  The woman of the group responded kindly.  “I am Wonder Woman, and allow me to introduce Justice League members Superman, Batman, Cyborg, Green Latern, Flash, and Nightwing.” 

 

“What odd names.”  Coran commented, looking them over.  “And quite interesting get ups if I do say so!  Is this a common things for Earth royalty?” 

 

“Oh my god.”  Lance barely managed to stifle a laugh that was more nervous than he’d like to admit.

 

“That’s uh…”  Shiro started hesitantly.  “They’re superheroes Coran, not royalty.”  He tried to explain.

 

“Forgive my advisor for his misunderstanding.  Superhero does not have a translatable word in our language.”  Allura admitted, polite as ever despite being tense and suspicious.

 

“Altea didn’t have superheroes?”  Hunk asked.  “Like, people with special powers that protect the people and fight bad guys?” 

 

“Is that what superheroes do?”  Allura frowned. 

 

“Yes.”  Superman confirmed.  “And the Justice League is a group that brings heroes together to help protect the world from any and all threats, and investigate anything that may be a threat.  Such as your warship.” 

 

“I see.”  Allura acknowledged.  “I suppose your worry in Voltron is just, however I assure you it is unnecessary.  Voltron is not a weapon to be used against the universe, rather it is one to defend it.” 

 

“That doesn’t explain why you have human children on your ship.”  Batman spoke up.

 

“We’re older than Robin.” Lance heard Pidge mutter and tried to hold back a chuckle.  Across the hanger, he saw Nightwing’s lips twitch upwards just slightly.

 

“As I said before, they were brought here by the Blue Lion.”  Allura explained.  “They are the paladin’s of Voltron, chosen by the lions themselves.”

 

“I’m sorry, what?  The lions ‘chose’ them?  So they’re sentient?”  Cyborg spoke up, frowning at the new information.

 

“Yes.  It is a mystical bond that cannot be forced or easily replaced.”  Allura elaborated. 

 

“And you said something about a war?”  Wonder Woman added.

 

“Against the Galra.”  The princess nodded.  “I do not understand how you could be so unaware of it.”

 

“Well, Zarkon’s like spreading but he’s not really in our part of the universe yet.”  Lance offered.  “It’s kinda of out of the way.”

 

“This is all super interesting and all that, but can we have this conversation somewhere with like comfortable seats?  And snacks?”  Flash cut in, raising his hand and tilting his head.

 

“Of course!”  Coran said, smiling widely and in a way that made the Paladin’s very, very nervous.  “It must have been a very long trip, I’ll be happy to whip you up some of my Paladin specialities!  Until then I’m sure you’ll all be much more comfortable in the common room.”  He quickly started to head out of the hanger.  Hunk looked to Lance with a wide eye, horrified expression before turning back to chase after Coran.

 

“Uh, Coran!  How about I cook, you know since I’m human and stuff and I’ll know what kind of foods are um, edible.”  Lance heard him protesting as the door shut behind them.  The Blue Paladin winced before looking back to the others only to find them staring at him.

 

“What?”  He frowned.

 

“You are the only one able to keep Coran out of the kitchen for ages.”  Pidge pointed out.  “Lance, I don’t want to look at a Paladin special, let alone eat it.”  She went on when Lance just gave her an empty look.  Lance sighed as he found Shiro and Keith giving him similar expressions to that of the Green Paladin while the Justice League watched on, most stoic or appearing mildly amused.

 

“Fine, fine I’m going.”  He said, turning towards the door Hunk had left through and walking causally towards the kitchen where he could already hear protests going on.

 

* * *

 

It actually wasn’t hard to keep Coran from cooking.  All Lance had to do was get the man to talk about something for long enough that, when he was done, there was no cooking left to do.  And that was easy, because Coran had a lot of stories and Lance genuinely liked listening to the older altean.  Honestly, _he_ barely noticed how much time had passed when Hunk announced he was all done.

 

The boy had made a literal feast and honestly, Lance wasn’t even that surprised.  He was incredibly impressed however, especially since it all smelt amazing.

 

“Oh.”  Coran said with a small pout.  “I must have gotten carried away with my story-telling again.”  He sighed.

 

“It’s alright Coran.”  Lance hummed.  “I thought it was interesting.  You’ll have to tell me more later.”  That brightened the altean up considerably.

 

“Of course my boy!”  He grinned.  “Perhaps next time we’re cleaning out the healing pods!”  Lance couldn’t help the shiver that went down his spine at the thought.

 

“Maybe not while we’re doing that.”  He mumbled.  He never wanted to clean those things again, honestly he hated even going into that room.  “We should go let everyone know foods ready.”

 

“Right.”  Hunk agreed, looking incredibly nervous.

 

* * *

 

Allura had already given the Justice League most of the spill about the Galra, who they were, what they’d done etc. etc. and moved on to having explained what Voltron was and how they’d helped the fight by the time everyone moved to the dining room.

 

Unsurprisingly, Hunk’s food was a big hit.

 

“I’ll inform the Green Lantern corp.”  Green Lantern said in between bites.  “And see how we can help.  We really should have been on this already.”

 

“Yeah, you should have.”  Pidge mumbled.  Lance rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. 

 

“That would be much appreciated.”  Allura smiled.  “We need all the allies we can get.”

 

“The League is also your ally in this fight.”  Wonder Woman added.  “We’ll come if you call.”

 

“I’ll fetch you one of our nifty commutators right after lunch!”  Coran announced.

 

“You might need to boost the signal like way up, Earth’s super far away.”  Lance said around a mouthful of not-terrible goo.  “What?”  He added, frowning at the looks Pidge and Hunk were giving him.

 

“Nothing man, just you’re not the tech savvy one is all.”  Hunk shrugged.

 

“I hung out with you guys, it was bound to rub off eventually.”  Lance rolled his eyes.

 

“I’ll see what I can do about upgrading the tech.”  Cyborg assured.  “I got the Javelin able to reach the tower even from way out here, I’m sure it won’t be hard.” He added a little smugly.

 

“If we can reach the tower do you reckon we could call people on Earth?”  Pidge spoke up with the spark in her eye that she always got when she’d just thought of something she thought was brilliant.

 

“Yeah, shouldn’t be too hard.  Why?”  The half-man nodded.

 

“I want to call my mum.”  Pidge answered plainly.

 

“I’ll take you guys to phone home from the Javelin while Cy’s messing with the alien tech.”  Flash said, words a little muffled as he shoved food into his mouth.  Hunk had thought to compensate for the man’s super-speed metabolism when cooking.

 

“You are not messing with my baby.”  Cyborg frowned down the table to the man in red.

 

“It’s just a phone call Cyborg, how had can it be?”  Flash grinned in a completely non-assuring way.

 

“I’ll keep an eye on him.”  Nightwing promised, which calmed Cyborg slightly though the man continued to grumble throughout lunch.

 

* * *

 

Lance wasn’t really sure why he went with Pidge and Hunk to the Javelin.  Shiro and Keith had opted out of it, Shiro wasn’t sure how to tell his parents he was alive over the phone and Keith didn’t have anyone to call on Earth.  Lance could probably have come up with some excuse as to why he didn’t want to call home, but he did sort of have a reputation of being the family guy so he found himself tagging along.

 

They let Pidge go first.  Flash and Nightwing set up the call and then they and the other Paladin’s left Pidge alone to talk to her mum.  Another reason to regret coming alone, Lance thought as he heard Pidge crying as she told her mum that the Holt men hadn’t died like they’d been told, that Shiro was still alive and she bet the Sam and Matt were too.  As she heard Pidge’s mum burst into a different kind of tears when Pidge admitted she didn’t know when she was coming home, or when she’d even get a chance to say hi again.

 

Hunk went next at Lance’s insistence.  This time Lance stayed for the call though, because Hunk’s dads knew Lance and were just as worried about their son’s best friend as they were their son.  The three Garett’s started breaking down almost immediately upon hearing each other, and there was definitely no return for Hunk once he heard his sister’s voice.  Not that Lance could talk, his own eyes weren’t exactly dry.

 

Before he knew it, Flash was asking him for a phone number.

 

“I…”  Lance felt his throat constrict, the words a fight to get out.  “I don’t know it.”  He admitted.

 

“We’ll check them up in the phone book then.”  Flash shrugged.  “Might just take a little longer.”  Lance gulped lightly.

 

“I don’t want to call them.”  He eventually forced out.  Flash turned back to him with a small frown, Hunk and Pidge looking equal parts confused and concerned.

 

“Why not Lance?”  Hunk asked voice soft and welcoming; despite the fact the big guy was still sniffling and rubbing his eyes.

 

“It’s just that…”  It wasn’t often words escaped the Blue Paladin but now they seemed impossible to find.  What was it that was holding him back from ringing that number and hearing his Mama’s voice?  He wanted to rekindle things, find what was lost, surely this was the way to start right?

 

Except it wasn’t.  His parents thought he was missing, he knew the conclusions they’d draw from that but maybe that was better than telling them he was in the middle of a war.  He’d already survived the other thing once, they could hope he’d do it again.  He hadn’t survived a war.

 

“I can’t do that to them.”  Lance mumbled.

 

“What?  Tell them you’re alive?”  Pidge frowned, her tone defensive enough to make Lance wince.  He should have phrased that better.

 

“That’s not what I meant.”  He said, running a hand through it hair nervously.  He caught Nightwing’s eye and noticed the supportive look the man gave him, his hand twitching just the tightest bit in a desire to offer physical comfort Lance wished he could accept.  “I haven’t, I haven’t seen my parents in person since I was 10.”  He admitted.  “And I never called them enough, and my mum has this heart condition and all my brothers and sisters to worry about.  I just… it’s different from you guys, it’s better my parents don’t know I’m off fighting a war.”  The room was silent a moment and Lance was sure Hunk knew something was missing from that explanation.  Pidge too, probably.

 

“What about the Waynes?”  Nightwing spoke up and Lance couldn’t help by frown.  Why would _Nightwing_ of all people suggest that?

 

“Huh?”  He managed, meeting an amused look in the elder’s eyes.

 

“Your one of the Wayne kids, right?”  Nightwing reminded.

 

“Well, kinda yeah.”  Lance said, frown deepening just a little more as he tried to get where the once Robin was going with this.

 

“They why don’t you call them, they must be worried.”  There was a little more emotion to those last four words.  Just enough to make Lance’s heart swell, not enough for anyone else to notice.

 

“Bruce is a busy guy.”  Lance said, trying to get the other to wise up about what he was saying.  “He’s probably in a meeting or on a business trip and he’d probably feel really guilty about missing the call.  Plus it’s not like he could call back.”  Instead of dropping it, Nightwing looked amused.

 

“Maybe.  Put he’d have a PA though, right?  Or a butler?  Someone who could pass the message on?”  Nightwing elaborated as his point finally clicked in Lance’s head.

 

Alfred.

 

“Yeah!”  He said, maybe a little too enthusiastically considering Nightwing was definitely holding back a laugh.  “I can let Alfred know.”  The man would find out either way, but surely it’d be better coming from him.

 

“Then give me the number kid.”  Flash grinned and Lance recited the number he’d memorized just in case his batphone wasn’t available.  As the line connected and started to ring the others left the ship once more to give him privacy.  Lance felt like his heart was slowly making its way into his throat.  Would Alfred even pick up?  Would he even recognize the number?  If he did would he know that it was a civilian call?  His answers came after the third ring.

 

“Wayne residence, Mr Wayne is away at the moment may I take a message?”  Alfred’s calm voice rang over the impression Javelin speakers.

 

“Yeah.”  Lance breathed, unable to keep the grin off his face.  “Can you tell him I’m sorry I can’t make it to dinner tonight?”  The line went quiet a long moment.

 

“Master Lance?”  Alfred eventually asked.

 

“H-hey Alfred.”  He stuttered slightly.  “You’ll never guess where I am.  I ended up in space.”

 

“You did attend a space school.”  Alfred reminded, a barely noticeable tension gone from his tone, and Lance couldn’t help but laugh lightly.

 

“It’s unrelated space travel.”  He said.  “I uh, kinda got abducted by aliens?  But in a good way!  Like they didn’t abduct me for probes or whatever, Blue picked me up to help save the universe.”  He explained.  “It’s actually a really long story now that I think about it.”

 

“Are you alright?”  Alfred asked.  “You’re not alone, are you Master Lance?”

 

“I’m fine.  Well, maybe not like super fine, emotionally because physically I am way more than super fine, but I’m okay.”  Lance answered.  “And no, I’m not alone.  Hunk’s here, and Pidge, and Keith.  And Takashi Shirogane, the pilot the garrison said was dead?  He’s here too and he’s not dead.”  He listed.  “Plus there’s Allura and Coran, they’re alteans, and then there’s the mice who are also technically alteans.  And at the moment he Justice League’s here.”

 

“It’s not quiet then?”  Alfred asked after a moment of categorizing the information and probably lining up his next few questions.

 

“It’s not silent.”  Lance answered as honestly as he could manage.  You just can’t lie to Alfred, even over the phone.  “But it gets kinda quiet.  Nothing’s gotten too much worse though.”

 

“If you’re sure.”  The man gave a pause, giving Lance a chance to speak up if he was lying.  He wasn’t.  “You mentioned the Justice League?”

 

“Yeah they caught up with us a couple d- uh, hours ago.  I’m using their space plane to call you right now.  Everyone else is out though so it’s just me in here.”  Lance explained.

 

“I see.”  He’s frowning, Lance can hear it in his tone.  Or, he’s not really frowning because Alfred is always calm and always collected but he wants to frown.  “Surely the Justice League could bring you home.  You would make it in time for dinner.” 

 

“I know Alfred but…”  Lance took a deep breath, pushing aside all the stress of being a superhero and just remembering the good for a moment least he give in to that suggestion.  “I’m doing good work here.  And I need to be here to help.”

 

“Then there’s no convincing you otherwise?”  It wasn’t a question, not really, but Lance answered anyway.

 

“Sorry Alfred, no such luck.”  He heard the old man sigh, not a disappointed kind of sigh more like a fond but resided kind of sigh.  Like Alfred knew the answer, wasn’t happy about it, but couldn’t find it in himself to be mad.

 

“You are a Wayne.”  The butler said, in the same kind of tone.  “Master Tim is around, would you like to talk to him?”

 

“Yeah, of course.”  Lance answered with a smile he couldn’t keep off is face.  He heard as the phone was placed on the bench and Alfred called for the younger teen.  He heard his pseudo-brother’s footsteps as Tim came near enough for Alfred to inform him he had a call.  He could just imagine the slit tilt to Alfred’s lips as the phone was picked up and Tim’s voice rang out.

 

“Tim Drake speaking.”  Tim began.  For a second, Lance toyed with the idea of teasing his brother but decided against it.  It’d been too long since they’d spoken, and the situation really didn’t call for that kind of joke.

 

“Sup Timmy.”  Lance greeted instead.  “How’s school going?”  There was a pause and Lance heard the phone clatter.

 

“Master Tim, please try not to drop the phone.”  Alfred reprimanded genteelly.

 

“Sorry Alfred.”  Tim said, snatching the phone back up.  “Lance?  Is that really you?”

 

“The one and only.”  Lance assured. 

 

“Are you alright?”  The younger asked and Lance felt his heart clench slightly.  They probably came to the same conclusion his parents would have. 

 

“I’m fine, think I ate a little too much at lunch, but I’m fine.”

 

“Where are you?” 

 

“In space.  Bruce and Dick’ll probably explain when they get home.  It’s uh, it’s a long story.”

 

“They’re there then?  But the Justice League…”  Tim trailed off a moment, probably frowning just a little as he connected the dots.  “What have you gotten yourself into now Lance?”

 

“Nothing much, just a 10,000 year old inter-galactic war.  The usual Sunday dinner affair.”  He joked.  “Oh the plus side, Shiro Takashi’s still alive.”

 

“I knew it.” 

 

“It was alien abduction though, not the Garrison.”  Lance hummed.  “Though we did have to break him out from the Garrison after he crash landed.”

 

“Did you find any leads with the Garrison?”  The younger asked.

 

“Nothing concrete.”  The Blue Paladin sighed.  He paused a moment before speaking up again.  “Hey, uh, is Damian there?”  He asked.

 

“Uh, yeah.  He’s here.”  Tim answered after a confused paused.  “Why?”

 

“I was kinda hoping to speak to him too, you know.”  Lance shrugged despite the fact he couldn’t be seen (he almost wanted to call the batcave, just so he could see the other).

 

“Oh, um.  Sure I’ll grab him for you.”  Tim placed the phone down and Lance heard him leaving to get the youngest of the bat family.  Lance tapped nervously as he waited, listening to the sounds in the metal around him.  Tim’s surprise wasn’t that surprising, really.  It’s not like Lance had ever really made an effort to get to know Damian.  Lance liked the youngest Robin just fine, really, he just couldn’t quite get over his own bitterness back then.

 

But that was going to change he’d decided.  And maybe this wasn’t the best start but it was the only start he had.

 

“Hello.”  Damian greeted, voice firm and cold.  Lance let out a shaky breath.

 

“Ah, h-hi Damian.”  He responded, his voice no more steady than his breathing.  “Okay so, I’ve been meaning to say something to you for a while and I want to say it now.  Since, I kinda don’t know when I’m next going to get the chance.”  The Blue Paladin said, on the verge of rambling.

 

“What is it?”  The boy asked.  Lance could just see his frown twitching further downwards but he pushed the thought from his mind. 

 

“I’m sorry.”  Even Lance barely caught the one Damian’s breath hitched just slightly in surprise at the words.  “I’ve been terrible to you and I really regret being like that, you know?  Because you didn’t do anything, I mean you kinda beat up Tim but so did Jason so maybe that’s just par for the course but um I mean…  I mean like, I’m not mad you became Robin, I was just a little, a little jealous I guess.  You’re a really good Robin, you know?  And I was jealous and mad at Bruce for being overprotective and well.”  He shrugged and sighed softly.  “I’m just really sorry I was a dick Damian.” 

 

“…It’s perfectly acceptable.  I stole your place.”  Damian dismissed.

 

“No you didn’t.”  Lance said firmly.  “It just took me a little to realize that, I’m sorry.”  The Blue Paladin let the words sit there for a moment, let Damian take them in, and then decided to change the tone to something easier to continue with.  “’Sides I’m still the way cooler Robin.  You might’ve been the first Robin allowed a hood but I still have exclusive rights as the first Robin with, like, _actual_ super powers.” 

 

“I still have more training.”  Damian countered.

 

“Yeah, but can you hear a pin drop from more than a hundred feet away?  I didn’t think so.”  Lance teased.  Behind him he heard footsteps and turned to watch Nightwing enter the room before closing and locking the main.

 

“Are you bragging to Tim again?”  The man asked, removing his mask only after he was sure no one was going to enter unannounced.

 

“Actually it’s Damian.”  Lance informed him.  Dick rose an eyebrow before giving Lance a small, proud smile and ruffling the younger boys hair. 

 

“Good.”  He said.  “Hey Damian.” 

 

“Grayson.”  On the other side of the line Lance heard Tim calling out for Damian to put it on speaker.  The youngest Robin clicked a button and Tim’s voice soundly got louder.

 

“Why didn’t you tell us you found Lance?”  Tim called out.

 

“We didn’t get the chance, we just got here.”  Dick rolled his eyes fondly.  “Everyone’s been really worried about you.”  He told Lance.

 

“We thought you were dead.”  Damian elaborated with an undertone that made Lance feel even guiltier about not having been a good brother.  “Drake has barely slept, nor has father.  I don’t think I even want to know what Todd’s been doing.”

 

“Oh please, when have we ever known anyone that could actually die?”  Lance joked around the warm feeling in his heart. 

 

“If you vanish like that on us again, I’ll kill you myself.”  Dick warned, though it would have been a lot scarier from literally anyone else.

 

“I would’ve called, but I literally couldn’t.”  The Paladin promised.  “I even tried to get Blue to boost the signal on my batphone but she couldn’t.”

 

“Who’s Blue?”  Tim asked and Lance’s face spilt into a wide grin.

 

“Justice League has footage of the alien ships right?”  Lance asked.

 

“Not that we’ve seen.”  Dick said with the kind of smirk that meant they most certainly had seen it.

 

“Blue’s the lion shaped ship.  She’s sentient and super cool.  Best lion in Voltron.”  Lance grinned.  “I’ll introduce you guys when we get home, she’ll love you.”

 

“That reminds me, Allura said she wanted to show us Voltron properly and that’s why I came in to get you.  We should probably go before Flash comes to ask what’s taking us so long.”  The oldest Robin informed them. 

 

“Why is Wally here by the way, not Barry?”  Lance asked, if only to ignore the queasy feeling in his stomach at the idea of hanging up.

 

“Because Dick’s boyfriend is clingy.”  Tim answered.  “And couldn’t bear the thought of Dick going into space without him.”

 

“Don’t you have homework to do?”  Dick rolled his eyes.

 

“Gee, thanks for reminding me mum.”  Tim teased.

 

“I’ll try to call you guys before the JL leaves.”  Lance said.  “After that I’m… I’m not really sure when we’ll be able to talk next.”  He admitted.

 

“Just stay safe, okay?”  Tim sighed.

 

“Of course.”

 

“We’ll see you when you’ve completed your mission.”  Damian said.  Lance was grateful they hung up, he wasn’t sure he could.

 

“You okay?”  Dick asked and Lance shrugged, wiping his eyes a little. 

 

“Yeah.  I just… I really missed you guys.”  He mumbled.  “I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t be.”  Dick said, squeezing Lance’s shoulder comfortingly.  “You didn’t know this was going to happen.  Besides, everyone does the whole ‘mad at Bats’ thing.  It’s a rite of passage.”  Lance let out a soft laugh.

 

“Have you told Wally your identity yet?”  He asked, changing the topic.

 

“Not yet.”  The older Robin admitted.  “I wanted to ask you first.”  It didn’t take a genius to figure out the whole bat family from one identity, after all.  Lance hesitated a moment before smiling.

 

“I’d be fine with him knowing.”  He said.  “If you’re serious about this.”

 

“I am.”  Dick nodded.  “I’ll make sure to take of a photo of his face when he finds out.” 

 

“Good.”  Lance grinned.  The blue paladin checked his make-up as Dick replaced his mask and then they left the Javelin to join the others.

 

* * *

 

After Voltron had been formed and the lion’s shown off to Allura’s satisfaction, she dismissed the Paladin’s to do as they pleased.  Pidge announced over the comms she was heading to her room to run through the most recent data they’d acquired from the Galra ships.  Green Lantern offered to help because of some excuse that was so flimsy Lance didn’t even bother to remember it.  Hunk (nervously) offered to give Cyborg a closer look at Yellow when the hero expressed interest.  Shiro mentioned something about joining Allura.  Keith didn’t say anything but Lance would bet money the teen planned to go straight to the training room.

 

Lance opted to hang out in Blue.  He supposed he could technically join any of the others but he wasn’t up for sparing with Keith (he’d have to pretend he sucked and Batman could walk in at any moment, not that Lance would admit that was why he wasn’t up for sparing), and he wasn’t up for not understanding Hunk’s tech talk, plus he didn’t think he’d be welcomed in Pidge or Shiro’s conversations.  Which left him with Blue.  Not that he minded, of course, he loved his favourite girl so that was completely fine with him.

 

He could probably go join Nightwing in whatever he was doing but Lance didn’t feel up for pretending to be your average superhero fan.

 

Batman would probably be with Shiro and Allura.  There’d be no way to get the man alone.  And he wanted to get Batman alone because Lance wanted a moment with Bruce, wanted to apologize and talk to the man who had done more for Lance than the teen would ever be able to thank him for.

 

Batman had barely looked at Lance at all since arrive, barely acknowledged his existence.  And Lance knew that was just because he was keeping up the persona, that it wasn’t that Batman wanted to ignore him.  The others had said he’d been worried!  But still, it was playing on his insecurities.

 

“This is the lion you would have seen.”  Allura’s voice rang through the hanger as she, Shiro, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman walked into the hanger.

 

“Speak of the devil.”  Lance groaned, earning an amused purr from Blue as his lion kneeled down to open her mouth.  “Rude.”  Lance frowned at her but followed the que, wondering out of Blue.

 

“Oh, Lance.  I would have thought you’d have left.”  Allura commented. 

 

“Nah, figured Blue and I would get some bonding done.”  Lance shrugged.  “She’s be feeling lonely.”  He claimed.  Only he understood the rumble Blue replied with, though the others heard it.  “Show-off.”  Lance huffed lightly, rolling his eyes at the amused lion.

 

“So they truly are sentient.”  Wonder Woman said, walking over to Blue.  “How is that possible?”  She asked Allura.

 

“My father gave them their own quintessence.”   Allura began.  “The stars they were crafted from had a life to them, and by connecting them to mine he said he was able to kick start that quintessence, giving them a new life.”

 

“Your father must have been a very intelligent man.”  Superman commented. 

 

“Yes.”  Allura said, getting a distant look on her face.  “I only wish you could have met him, he’d be able to give you more details on the lions and there make up.  Unfortunately, his AI was corrupted and we had no choice but to destroy it.”  Shiro gave the princess’ shoulder a gentle squeeze.

 

“What you’ve told us is more than enough.”  Wonder Woman assured.  “We have no reason to distrust you or your lions.”

 

“Would we be able to have a look inside?”  Superman asked.  “I must admit I’m curious.”

 

“That, I suppose, is up to Blue.”  Allura admitted.  “She can be quite fussy about that sort of thing.”

 

“She let all of us in no problem.”  Shiro frowned.

 

“Yeah, because we didn’t have the other lions.  She complains about it all the time.”  Lance said, unable to keep the amusement out of his tone when Blue grumbled at him.  She had lifted her head again, not opening up for the Justice League.  “She says Yellow can do it, or Black.”  Lance translated after a moment, opting to leave out the extra grumbling.

 

“Well, I suppose that’s only to be expected.  Yellow is the friendliest of the lions you see, while Black would have no issues about opening up for new allies.”  Allura explained.  She turned to leave the hanger, probably planning to led the League members to the Black Lion.

 

Batman didn’t move to follow her, standing still and silent in the hanger.  Superman looked to the other but didn’t say anything to Allura or call Batman over.  Clark had been allowed in on the family secret back when Lance was Robin.

 

The hanger shut behind Superman and the two men were left alone.  Lance wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how to start the conversation.  Blue decided to use that moment to lower her head once more.

 

“I thought the princess said she was fussy.”  Batman said, voice still very deep and monotone.

 

“She is.”  Lance said before clearing his throat.  “Do you want to have a look?”  He offered, gesturing a little awkwardly to Blue’s open mouth.

 

“As long as she’s not planning to eat me.”  Batman accepted, his mouth twitching up just so.

 

“She won’t.”  Lance assured, heading into his lion.  “I don’t think she can actually eat, lucky her considering Coran’s cooking.”  He joked.  He led Batman to the cockpit and the man had a lot over the controls.

 

“It’s an advanced set up.”  He commented and Lance shrugged. 

 

“I guess, Blue does at least half the controlling though so it’s not that hard to get.”  He explained, rubbing the back of his neck.  They were quiet another moment.

 

“Nightwing said you called home.”  Batman stated.

 

“I called Alfred.  I explained a little but I’m beating Tim or Damian will bug you about it when you get home.”  Lance nodded.

 

“You spoke to Damian?”

 

“Yeah.”  Lance nodded, a little sheepishly.  “Things seem… a lot smaller when you don’t know if you’re coming home I guess.”  He mumbled.

 

“It wasn’t unfounded, I _was_ babying you.”  Bruce said, taking a step closer to Lance.  “And you were right, you have barely become Robin before Damian arrived.”

 

“Yeah, but it doesn’t really matter now.”  The paladin shrugged.  “It was a stupid thing to be upset over then but now it just super doesn’t matter.”  The teen only hesitated a moment more before closing the distance between himself and Bruce, giving the man a tight hug.  “Still, I’m sorry.”  He mumbled.

 

“So am I.”  Bruce said softly, wrapping his own arms around Lance loosely.  He’d long since learnt it was no good to tell Lance not to be sorry. 

 

“Are you looking after yourself?”  Bruce eventually broke the silence, pulling back enough to look Lance in the eye.

 

“As best I can I guess.”  Lance answered.  “I haven’t really been keeping track of the days though so I don’t know how long I’ve had my contacts in.”  He admitted.  Bruce pulled one hand away quickly to pull something out from beneath his cape.  “You seriously kept spare contacts on you this whole time?”

 

“If you want another packet, I believe Dick also has some.”  Bruce replied, smiling the same amused smile as Lance. 

 

“I might just ask for those actually.”  Lance decided, taking the contacts.

 

“You could tell your team.”  The superhero suggested.  Lance recalled physically at the idea.  “You never made your enhancements obvious as Robin or Bluebird, I doubt they’d make that connection if you told them.” 

 

“But what if they do?”  The paladin countered.  “What if they ask questions I can’t, or I, or I don’t want to answer?”

 

“I think it’s a risk worth taking.”  Bruce said.  “This is war Lance, if you hold back you could get hurt.”  The man’s grip on Lance tightened a little at the word ‘war’, his tone just a little strained.

 

“It’s not like I’m the _only_ one holding back.”  Lance mumbled.

 

“I know.”  Bruce smiled just a little.  “It’d be hypocritical of half your team to be mad you kept this hidden for so long.” 

 

“And I doubt Pidge’s gonna tell us _her_ secret.  It’d be too obvious.”  Lance went on.  “Not that she and Hal aren’t being like super obvious already.”

 

“Sometimes you have to do things others won’t.  You’re a Robin, you should know that already.”  Bruce hummed.  Lance sighed softly and rested his head against the man’s chest.

 

“I’ll think about it.”  He eventually said.

 

“Good.”  Bruce rubbed his back comfortingly.  “Even if you don’t tell them, promise me you won’t hold back.”  He added after a moment.  “And come home for dinner some time, I’m sure it’d make Alfred happy.”  Lance could hear the words his guardian hadn’t spoken and smiled. 

 

“I will, promise.”  He offered.  Considering the way they didn’t part for a good five minutes, Lance wasn’t sure if either of them were certain about that.

 

* * *

 

Sneaking around the ship was a lot more nerve-wrecking when it was full of Justice League members, Lance found that night.  The seven members had decided to spend the night before leaving for Earth in the morning.  Lance thought that was great, really, because he was enjoying whatever moments he could spend with Bruce and Dick, but he was pretty sure he had a heart attack along the way to the training room.

 

He kept the power off when he arrived; turning it on activated the cameras in the room and that kinda defeated the whole point of training in secret.  He barely noticed the lack of light, especially with his contacts out.   Although, it did mean he had to set up the targets manually but he didn’t mind too much.

 

The targets up, Lance settled on the other side of the room and took a deep breath.  His gun materialized in his hand and Lance took aim.  The white metal stood no chance, Lance barely got 3 inches out form a bullseye in total.  Of course, the targets weren’t moving and it was only a warm up but he still allowed himself a moment of pride.

 

And then that pride morphed into the familiar tinge of self-disgust.  He shouldn’t be proud, he told himself, of using the enhancements forced upon him.

 

His ears twitched at the sound of footsteps and Lance turned on heel, gun aimed at the door before he could stop himself.  It slid open to reveal Nightwing.  The Paladin scrawled, mostly at himself, and let his gun dematerialize.

 

“I could have shot you.”  He warned.

 

“That you’re over.”  Dick hummed.  “Apparently you’re not over midnight training though.”

 

“Are you?”  Lance countered, hand on his hip.  Dick just shrugged.

 

“Did you want some company?”  He asked. 

 

“We can’t turn on the lights, there’s cameras.”  Lance explained, gesturing to the corners of the room. 

 

“I’ve got night vision of my own baby bird.”  Dick assured, tapping his mask.

 

“Isn’t Damian baby bird now?”  Lance rolled his eyes as Dick walked in, slipping into a familiar stance.

 

“To me you’re all baby bird.”  The elder hummed.

 

Lance went to bed a few hours later, not nearly as bothered by his new bruises as he claimed.

 

* * *

 

The Justice League left the next morning after a breakfast thankfully prepared by Hunk.  Allura gave them a communicator with a signal as boosted as they could get and the League gave them a similar one, just in case.

 

Lance honestly thought he should get a metal for managing not to cry as the Javelin disappeared from sight. 

 

After training (which also wasn’t nearly as bad as he complained, Shiro had nothing on Bats), he wondered back to his room as smiled when he saw his bat phone sitting on the bench with two pairs of long lasting day-night contacts and a note.

 

_‘Boosted it as best as I could, the signal might be too shitty for calls but Tim added a messenger to ours and I added it to yours.  It works on speech-to-text and works almost perfectly.  Unless you’re Jason.  Tim claims he has no idea why that is._

_\- Dick’_

 

Lance tucked the note in his drawer with a small smile.  He wasn’t sure when Dick had swiped his compact, but Dick had always been good enough to trick even Lance’s ears.  He opened the compact and pressed his thumb to the scanner on its underside. 

 

The new messenger was the first app on the screen and Lance quickly opened it using the tiny touchscreen mirror.  It was a simple, classic black, red, and green set up open to a group chat but with the option of private ones.  Lance clicked the microphone on the bottom centre of the screen.

 

“Why didn’t we already have this?  Or, like, a message bank for the calls?”  The app perfectly depicted his words and Lance clicked the send button.  He didn’t expect a response instantly (even if he _was_ hoping) but it was nice to just stare at the message and know that his family would see it.

 

Or it was, until the guilt of being the only one capable of that hit him.  But Lance managed to brush that mostly to the side.

**Author's Note:**

> Lance: That one Robin with superpowers and also parents. How did he get those superpowers and become a Robin? Well, hindsight is 20-20.
> 
> Find out what that means if this gets enough approval that I write the next one.


End file.
